There are 3 billion trees in the UK - roughly 47 for every one person. Around those trees is grass. A lot of it. With both tree pollen and grass pollen being key protagonists to seasonal hay fever, the short answer is that you can’t truly beat it. What you and the 20 per cent of the UK population affected between every late March and early September can do, however, is learn to tame it. That way you can get on with your day without looking like you have snorted 50 lines of cocaine while having the cold from hell. To achieve this, you need to consider three aspects to better symptom control:

1. Minimise your exposure to pollen

Personally, I find this advice a little pedestrian. If I told you to stay indoors as much as you can, avoid all triggers (those 47 billion trees), wear wrap-around sunglasses so the pollen doesn’t get to your eyes, plug your nostrils with Vaseline (you won’t find that look in GQ Style), never have flowers or pets, and at all costs never cut the grass, you may raise an eyebrow. In the most homeopathic sense, these may help a little – although having a life may get in the way.

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2. Buy an over-the-counter antihistamine

You have an arsenal of antihistamine medications at your local pharmacy, which, for the majority of us, will satisfactorily control hay fever symptoms. These drugs work by arresting the release of inflammatory mediators, such as histamine, from mast cells that line your nose. You can choose eye drops for eye symptoms, nasal spray for nose symptoms, or tablets if the geography of your symptoms is, well, anywhere with a hole. And remember, pharmacists are laudable sources of knowledge, so rather than hurriedly grabbing the first medication off the shelf, do stop and speak to them. For example, you want to make sure that you get a non-sedating antihistamine such as loratadine or cetirizine.

3. See your GP

If over-the-counter medications fail, then you need to see your GP. Here, steroid-based medications that combat the inflammatory actions of hay fever can be prescribed. In the majority of cases, this is in the form of a nasal spray (which can also be combined with antihistamine agents such as azelastine). For the unlucky few whose symptoms fail to respond to any of the aforementioned, a short course of steroid tablets may be considered (although that’s pretty rare – I’ve only had to do it once). Now, very rarely, symptoms persist despite any and all of these treatments. When that occurs, and your quality of life is perceivably miserable, you deservedly win yourself a referral to a specialist for further assessment and management.

Ultimately, hay fever control is a game of trial and error. Be methodical and take note of which medications work and which do not. Nine times out of ten there is one that can make a real difference.

Dr Nick Knight is a GP. Follow him on Twitter (@DrNickKnight). As one of our most-read pieces, this article was emailed, in its entirety, to all our GQ Commuter newsletter subscribers. Do you fancy receiving our top story of the day, straight to your inbox, at 6am every weekday - ready for your day ahead? Just enter your email address onto this newsletter sign-up page, and consider it done.